New York City band The Toasters is arguably the longest-running ska band in the United States, having started in 1981, and its 1987 album “Skaboom!” often is credited as the origin of “third-wave” ska in the U.S. Some 5,000 gigs later, the band is on the road with a 30th anniversary tour.

So why is The Toasters perhaps best known for its song “Two-Tone Army” being the theme for the Nickelodeon show “KaBlam!” or its music that was used in TV commercials for America Online and Coca-Cola?

Because there’s no justice in the world. Seminal punk rockers The Ramones suffered a similar fate, and it’s no coincidence both were rated among iconic New York Club CBGB’s 20 core bands.

Terrible Things hardly had the usual start for an alternative rock group.

For one, its members left established — and successful — groups Taking Back Sunday (guitarist Fred Mascherino), Coheed & Cambria (drummer Josh Eppard) and Hot Rod Circuit (rhythm guitarist Andy Jackson). Then their debut album is a concept disc about a series of arsons in Mascherino's hometown, Coatesville.

But the disc hit No. 25 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, and New York’s Newsday newspaper chose it among its Top 25 Albums of 2010, calling it “the catchiest concept album about serial arsonists ever!” And last summer, the band took the usual step of playing the Vans Warped Tour.

Alternative bluegrass band Crooked Still’s high-energy, technically skilled and unusual style — often eschewing traditional bluegrass instruments such as guitar and mandolin for cello, bass and banjo — got it invited to the Newport Folk Festival and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in 2004.

That’s when its debut album, “Hop High,” had just been released. Six years and three albums later, its latest disc, “Some Strange Reason,” released in May, gave the band its highest chart position ever, hitting No. 15 on the U.S. Folk chart.

The disc, with Grammy award-winning producer and engineer Gary Paczosa, has guest singers that include Ricky Skaggs, and radically re-imagines traditional songs, includes four original compositions and has a surprising take on the Rolling Stones’ “You Got The Silver.”

Hawley received top honors in the prestigious New York Songwriters Circle Contest (2008 and 2009), the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (2009), the Telluride Festival (2010) and the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (2010). So it’s no wonder he called his 2007 debut album “Greatest Hits.”

Caleb Hawley

But he’s released three albums of intricate lyrics and fast licks since, and shared the stage with Mark Cohn, Rusted Root, Dave Matthews Band, Shawn Mullins, Edwin McCain and others.

Longley last year alone won the Grand Prize International Acoustic Music Award (from among 9,000 entries) and Chris Austin Songwriting Award, and appeared at the Newport and Rocky Mountain Folk Festivals.

Barnaby Bright’s music, routed in folk but pushing the boundaries, has been featured on television shows such as “ER,” “Days of Our Lives” and PBS’s “Roadtrip Nation.”

It’s been nearly 20 years since rapper Ice-T generated controversy with his song “Cop Killer,” causing him to leave Warner Brothers records.

But since he’s released eight more albums (four with the band Body Count), starred on TV shows such as “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” and appeared in nearly 50 movies, including 2001’s “3000 Miles to Graceland.”

He’s also appeared on reality TV shows with his wife of six years, swimsuit model Nicole "Coco Marie" Austin. The two will appear as “celebrity guest DJs” Saturday at Mount Airy Casino.

JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.